Drought index prompts growing fire fears in Volusia, Flagler

Friday

Apr 12, 2013 at 6:56 AMApr 12, 2013 at 10:22 PM

As Florida's annual wildfire awareness week concluded Friday with state and Volusia firefighters battling a 181-acre blaze near Daytona Beach, officials warned of a growing fire risk in the days and weeks ahead because of extreme dry conditions throughout the area.

DINAH VOYLES PULVER and PATRICIO G. BALONASTAFF WRITERS

As Florida's annual wildfire awareness week concluded Friday with state and Volusia firefighters battling a 181-acre blaze near Daytona Beach, officials warned of a growing fire risk in the days and weeks ahead because of extreme dry conditions throughout the area. Florida Forest Service officials also continued to monitor the sites of four other recent wildfires in Volusia County and one in Flagler County, said Timber Weller, a wildfire mitigation specialist and spokesman for the Forest Service's Bunnell district. “It's not looking good,” Weller said. “Things are very dry and it appears they are only going to get worse in the foreseeable future. “This is our typical dry season and we're already behind in rainfall, with only about a quarter of the typical rainfall,” Weller said. Normally, the rain gauge at the district office should have recorded roughly 10 inches of rain since Jan. 1, he said, but instead only 2.5 inches has fallen. In the short term, Weller said firefighters hope a drop in wind speeds and a weekend forecast that calls for rain might do them some good on the fire west of Daytona Beach. The fire, which was about 75 percent “contained” on Friday evening, forced the closing of a nine-mile section of U.S. 92 overnight Thursday between Indian Lake Road and Big John Road. The road reopened at 9:50 a.m. Friday. The cause of the fire is under investigation, Weller said. However, local dispatchers said a 9-1-1 caller Thursday reported he was conducting an authorized burn at a construction site at Mile Marker 128 on Interstate 4 and needed the fire department to respond because the burn was out of control. The fire, quickly dubbed the “Mile Marker 128” fire, started south of the Daytona Highridge Estates subdivision. Fire crews from Daytona Beach, DeLand and Volusia County responded to assist the Forest Service on the blaze, said Pat Kuehn, a Volusia County spokeswoman. They protected three homes, she said. Corrections officers and county staff also assisted. No evacuations were ordered. Firefighters continued to put out hot spots on the fire throughout the day Friday, Kuehn said, and a Forest Service helicopter dropped water on the fire. Weller said the crews were “working hard” to make sure the fire stayed within the containment lines. “There is still residual burning and it's (the fire) creeping through the underbrush.” Any rain this weekend — chances are 40 percent on Saturday and 50 percent on Sunday — would be helpful but won't solve the overall problem, Weller said. That may not happen until the rainy season begins in May or June. No one season of the year is considered “fire season” in Florida, but the annual dry season each spring can be especially hazardous. In Volusia County, one drought index firefighters use to gauge wildfire danger rose 11 points Friday to 582, on a scale of zero to 800, with 800 being desert-like conditions. That index jumped 30 points to 513 in Flagler County, topping the 500 mark for the first time this year. The drought index is one factor Flagler County considers before implementing burn bans, said Fire Chief Don Petito.When the index rises over 500, Petito said they start watching other factors more closely such as humidity and instability in the atmosphere. Petito said they are watching the fire activity around them and “getting concerned.”Adam Putnam, Florida's Commissioner of Agriculture, said this week that things are "rapidly heating up as we head into a time of high wildfire activity."

So far this year, 1,151 wildfires have been reported in Florida, across more than 22,000 acres, the Forest Service said.

The state's wildfire awareness week started after the 1998 wildfires, which damaged or destroyed 337 homes and structures, including 58 destroyed in Volusia and Flagler counties. At one point that summer, the fires forced the evacuation of the entire population of Flagler County.